Congress has approved $9.7 billion in new aid for victims of Hurricane Sandy, with a face-saving quick move by the House taken three days after Speaker John Boehner received scathing criticism from New York and New Jersey Republicans for canceling a late-night vote on the funds.

The bill, which will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay out claims to those who held federal flood insurance, was approved in the House on a 354 to 67 vote. After the House action, the Senate also adopted the bill in a quick unanimous voice vote, sending it to President Barack Obama.

All lawmakers in the Colorado delegation voted for the aid except Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn.

Those who voted against the bill — all Republican — were encouraged by the conservative Club for Growth, which argued the additional disaster spending should be offset with cuts to other government programs. The continued GOP opposition could spell trouble for a larger $51 billion Sandy bill that Boehner has promised will come before the House on Jan. 15.

And it provided a second example in a week of a bill approved with more Democratic support than Republican backing, an outcome that deeply troubles conservatives about the efficacy of their governing majority in the House.

Spain came under repeated attack starting Thursday in what authorities called linked terrorist incidents, when a driver swerved a van into crowds in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district, killing more than a dozen people and injuring scores of others. Early Friday, an attempted attack unfolded in a town down the coast

If there’s one superhero character whose rise might be most tied to the events of World War II, it is Captain America, who emerged from the minds of legends Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and sprung forth from an iconic 1941 debut cover on which Cap smacks Hitler right in the kisser.

A customer dining at Washington’s Oceanaire restaurant noticed an unusual line at the bottom of his receipt: “Due to the rising costs of doing business in this location, including costs associated with higher minimum wage rates, a 3% surcharge has been added to your total bill.”